13 December 2006 - official denials

Jay Scott : Daily Whale : archive : 2006 : 13 December 2006

There’s a difficult distinction to draw with official denials: How do you tell when it means nothing and when it means less than nothing?

clue:

“Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.” — attributed to Otto von Bismarck

For example, I think that the NSA’s denial that it spied on Princess Diana means nothing, and that Putin’s denial of ordering the assassination of Litvinenko means less than nothing. But who knows? Maybe it’s the other way around.

take oh take this clue away